OCEANO DUNES – California State Parks rangers quickly responded in taking the lead in the last stretch of a vehicle pursuit in which a wanted suspect, fleeing officers, sped across the sand along the ocean where beach-goers were enjoying an afternoon of fun.

“You watch the video and see the suspect flying across the beach where people are walking, playing, and enjoying themselves and you know that suspect has to be stopped,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona. “Park rangers, whose vehicles are better equipped for driving on the sand, jumped in to help local law enforcement officers who had been in two pursuits with the suspect, one pursuit terminated because it was deemed too dangerous, that a member of the public could be seriously hurt or killed.”

The first pursuit began at about 2:30 p.m. on July 12, 2017 when San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputies spotted, Joshua Jordan, 38, a wanted parolee out of Kern County. When deputies attempted to stop him, he allegedly drove in the wrong direction on Highway 101, causing deputies to terminate the pursuit due to safety reason. Less than two hours later, deputies in an unmarked vehicle spotted Jordan in a vehicle and began to follow it. That was the beginning of the second pursuit in which Jordan allegedly entered the Oceano Dunes State Beach, driving 40 miles an hour in the sand. As state park rangers pursued the suspect’s vehicle, the suspect’s vehicle became stuck. The suspect got out of the car and ran into the ocean. State park rangers took Jordan into custody at gunpoint.

Jordan is wanted in Kern and San Benito Counties for a parole violation and making felony criminal threats. He now faces new charges including felony willful cruelty to a child with possible injury or death because families and children were playing on the beach and were forced to run for safety to avoid being hit by the suspect’s car. Jordan also faces a charge of felony evading a peace officer in a reckless manner.